


The Asset and The Zoo

by Introvertatheart



Series: The Asset's New Life [32]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky goes to the zoo, But they enjoy it, M/M, The zoo is a very loud place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-19 11:42:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22610365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Introvertatheart/pseuds/Introvertatheart
Summary: After getting adjusted to living in the tower, Steve and Bucky feel a little cramped up. They decide to go to the zoo. Steve isn't expecting Bucky to have the same reaction as the aquarium, all that matters is that they have fun.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: The Asset's New Life [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1343575
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	The Asset and The Zoo

**Author's Note:**

> Like the aquarium, not all animals are mentioned. I put animals in that might interest Bucky.
> 
> This was requested by Cheeky9274. I hope this is up to your expectations.

Three weeks. It's been three weeks since they moved into the tower. It's been three weeks since they've went anywhere. Dr. Nicole, the therapist, gave them a break the first week and did home visits until Bucky was completely settled into the tower. They did their normal routine of walking Harley around, but still, even with all the new space; it was starting to become boring.

Bucky was still a little shaken up from his encounter with Fury and Maria. Steve didn't blame him. Usually he was okay with new people, but they were the people who send Steve away and they made Steve upset which made him upset. He didn't want to see them ever again.

After that day, Steve was trying to find a place to get Bucky's mind off of the incident. But some places around Brooklyn and Manhattan weren't child friendly or PTSD proof. Steve knows he shouldn't limit the places where Bucky could go because of his mental health, but some places will send him into a meltdown and Bucky's been doing good for a while. They could go to the aquarium again but Steve wanted to try something new.

He was on his phone during Bucky's nap and saw an ad for the zoo. The zoo wasn't a bad place, Bucky loved animals. But the zoo was louder and bigger than the aquarium. It would probably frighten him a little, but he might enjoy it once he saw the animals.

Then he heard a door open. Bucky and Harley came into the living area with his blanket and Lamby.

"Hey, sweet boy. Did you sleep good?" Said Steve. Bucky nodded and sat down next to him. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and laid on Steve's lap.

"Do you want to go somewhere fun?"

"Fun?"

"Yeah, remember the aquarium?" Bucky somewhat nodded, his brain was still waking up. "Well the place we're going has animals but they live on land." Bucky stared at him. He was confused.

"The aquarium has sea animals, the zoo has land animals like Lamby. There might be a few sea animals there but mostly land."

"Fin?"

"Fin will not be at the zoo." He wasn't ready to see another Fin.

"Star?"

"Um, well, a cousin of Star will be there. How about we go see and learn about new animals?" Bucky nodded and got up slowly. He yawned and stretched.

"That must have been a good nap. You look rested." 

"Sleepy."

"You can't be sleepy after a two hour nap, Buck." They went into the bedroom and got changed. As Steve got Bucky's jeans on, Bucky grabbed his shoulder with his metal arm. 

"Bucky, that hurts. Please let go." Bucky has a newfound habit of grabbing when he felt unstable which was odd. Whenever he lifted a foot off of the ground or was walking down the stairs, he grabbed something. When he told Bruce and Dr. Nicole about it, they said some people with sensory processing disorders don't trust their feet. So Bucky might feel off balance when walking around. 

At this point, their whole life is off balanced but they accepted it.

Once they got dressed and had a little snack and packed all necessities, they went to garage where Tony was polishing one of his cars.

"Hey momma bear, baby bear and dog, whose name I have forgotten."

"It's Harley." Said Steve.

"Right, where are you kids heading off to?"

"We're going to the zoo, we've been cramped in here too long."

"Oh nice. The zoo is a good place, it's loud though."

"I know, we'll find a disability center or something then go from there. I just hope the kids aren't as wild as they show."

"Well, it is a school year."

"Could be worse, it could be summer."

"Also true. Also your car stands out like a sore thumb, please upgrade."

"My car is fine."

"Rogers, your car is like thirty years old. Bucky's beaten the crap out of it and I don't think Harley is comfortable in there anymore."

"The car is eighteen years old and Bucky hasn't done that much damage to it."

"Like I said, a sore thumb. I'll take you car shopping, you look like suv, no, a monster truck guy."

"Tony, child locks and A/C are my only priorities with cars. If you want to go car shopping, fine. I just need those two things. Now we have to go." Said Steve getting Bucky in the car.

"Fair request. I'll start looking. Have fun, kid. Bring me back a present." Tony opened the garage and they left. 

At the zoo entrance, Steve went to the disability area to ask where Harley was okay to go. She could go anywhere expect the bird feeding area. And if she was too excitable about the butterfly exhibit then she would have to leave, but Harley was is a very calm animal. She wouldn't react to anything unless Bucky was in trouble. 

"Alright, pal. Here's a map. Where do you want to go first?" Steve held out a map, Bucky stared at it. Options. He hated options. He pointed to the water area. 

They walked towards the water area. It was a little loud, mainly because of the sea lions. Some were perched on rocks, others were swimming around. While Steve read the description of the animals, Bucky stared at them. This was so much different than the aquarium.

"Loud."

"Yeah, they are. Let's go see the polar bears." They walked over to the polar bears. Bucky liked the polar bears. 

"Oh fun fact, polar bears are not actually white. They're black. The light just reflects off of their fur. How interesting, I didn't know that. Do you like them?" Bucky nodded and pointed to the sign. 

"Bear."

"Yeah, good job."

"Want."

"You want a polar bear?" Bucky nodded. They looked like big white dogs to him. Harley was just a tall dog.

"We aren't getting a polar bear. They need more room than what we need. Let's go see something else." Bucky waved bye to the polar bears. Some animals Bucky recognized from the aquarium like the otters. 

There wasn't a lot of sea animals which upset Bucky a little. Steve saw that he wasn't as interested in these animals like the aquarium. Steve looked at the map for something that might interest him.

"Elephants might interest you." Bucky looked at him confused. They walked towards the elephants, Bucky froze when he saw them.

"Big."

"Yes they are." The zookeepers were feeding the elephants, Bucky tilted his head. Where are their noses?

"Nose?"

"Where are their noses? You see that long thing that they are using to pick up the food. That's their nose but it's called a trunk." 

"Eat with nose?"

"The trunk helps them pick up things and hang on to each other's tails. Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah." Now he looked interested. He saw a baby elephant playing with it's mother. It remind Steve a little of Bucky and Nat. Always close, always playing. They looked at them for a minute until one of the elephants made a noise and spooked Bucky. Next was the giraffes. This one Steve was a little nervous about because there wasn't much distance between the animals and the viewing board. And with it being feeding time, they were right next to it.

"Tall."

"Yes they are. I think they are the tallest land animal. Fun fact they have the same number of vertebrae as we do." Bucky looked at him completely confused. "Their spine is like ours." He still looked confused. Steve was starting to wish that he asked for a private tour.

"Do you want to feed our giraffes?" Asked a woman. Steve walked up to them, Bucky froze.

"It's okay. They won't hurt you. I'll do it first." The lady handed him a piece of lettuce, Steve handed it out to the animal. Steve tried not to show a disgust face when it's tongue hit his hand.

"See, it's okay. Come on." Bucky stepped forward slightly. Steve gave him a piece of lettuce. Bucky inched forward, the giraffes were kind of scary. He's never been around anything this big. When he reached to where Steve was standing, he was shaking.

"I'll hold your hand." Steve got his hand, Bucky slowly lifted the lettuce to the giraffe. When the animal got close, Bucky dropped it.

"It's okay. You're doing so good." Bucky picked up the lettuce and handed it to the giraffe. The giraffe happily took it. Steve took a quick picture of Bucky.

"Yucky." 

"Yeah, let's go find hand sanitizer. I'm so proud of you, though." Steve found hand sanitizer and wiped their hands.

"Well that was fun, who should we go see next?" Asked Steve. Bucky pointed to another water area. Steve frowned, a gator pond with a bridge. He knows Bucky doesn't understand dangerous animals but Steve just feared that he would freeze walking through it.

"We aren't going to walk the bridge, we'll watch from a distance." The gator pond wasn't far from the giraffes but once they arrived Steve was glad he made the decision not to walk the bridge.

The bridge was a rope bridge, very wobbly but stable. Walking it would have only made him extremely nervous and result in a meltdown. He was already nervous from just standing near the bridge. Plus Harley didn't look too sure about the bridge either.

"We're just going to stand here. So in there are American alligators and crocodiles." Bucky looked at all the animals in the pond, he could only see their eyes sticking up.

"Fin?"

"These guys aren't like Fin. They aren't exactly friendly." Steve read the information panel, he wasn't going to tell Bucky that alligators and crocodiles can kill people and dogs. After noticing Bucky was becoming nervous due to the children screaming, they walked over to a petting area.

"Look, Bucky."

"Lamby." More specifically goats and sheep. A sheep came up to Bucky, he frowned and pushed the sheep away.

"You have to be gentle, no hitting." Bucky looked at him, then patted the sheep's head. Then he saw a smaller sheep.

"Baby."

"That is a baby, baby sheep are called lambs." Bucky smiled and touched the lamb. It was soft, but his Lamby was softer. They noticed the pigs and cows, Bucky liked them and laughed whenever they made noise. Steve just hope nobody would explain where bacon and burgers come from.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Hungry."

"Okay, let's go find somewhere to sit down." They walked to a pavilion which was unfortunately near a playground full of school children. Steve packed applesauce and goldfish for him. Steve, himself, wasn't hungry. While Bucky ate, he gave Harley a few treats and some water to keep her satisfied. Until a child ran behind her and stepped on her tail. Harley let out a yelp which scared Bucky into dropping his drink. 

"I'm so sorry, I've told him not to run around here. Is she okay?" Asked the boy's mother. Steve checked Harley's tail, nothing too serious just a footprint.

"She's okay." Bucky, however, wasn't. He wanted to throw a fit, so Steve just quickly walked away.

They sat in a quiet area for a minute until Bucky could calm himself down. Steve checked on Harley's tail again to make sure nothing felt broken. She whined a little, it was just tender. But Steve still wanted to get it checked out.

"Doggy, okay?" Asked Bucky.

"Yeah, she's okay. That wasn't nice, wasn't it Harley?" Harley put her head on Bucky's lap. Bucky tapped her nose until he froze. A seizure. Steve rubbed his shoulder, he was shaking a lot and blinking frequently. After a minute, Bucky took a deep breath and looked at Steve.

"Go?"

"Where do you want to go?" He held out the map. Bucky pointed to the big cats.

"Good choice. Let's go find them." They walked to big cat section. First was the jaguars, Bucky looked at the cats. Not much interest. Next was leopards, still not much interest. Next was the cheetahs, a little interest.

"Fun fact they do not roar like their other relatives, they chirp and they are also the fastest land animal, running up to 70 miles per hour. "

"Fast."

"Yeah, they are."

"Daddy, fast."

"I'm not faster than them, Buck. Let's go see the lions." Steve wasn't even sure how fast he could run. But 70 mph was something that sounded in his range. As they walked to the lions, Bucky saw something that caught his eye.

"Doggies?"

"Those are zebras." Bucky looked at them confused. All of them were black and white. 

"Star?"

"They're related to Star. They don't fly but they run really fast." Steve really liked zebras, he thought it was pretty cool that they can blend into one another when threatened. Once they arrived at the lions, Bucky noticed something weird.

"Why hair?" Asked Bucky.

"Why is there hair around the lion's neck?" Asked Steve. Bucky nodded.

"The male lion and only the male lion has that and it's called a mane. It to let the girl lions that he's the boss."

"Me, boss."

"No you are a baby. I'm the boss." Bucky poked Steve's dark blonde hair. Then he yawned.

"Are we getting tired?"

"No."

"That sounded like a yes. Let's go visit one more place before we go." Steve brought him to the butterfly exhibit. Here you could feed the butterflies and take a chance of them landing on you. Steve wasn't sure how Bucky would react but he needed to try. They got the okay that Harley could go in. 

"Okay hold this and we're going to sit here." They sat on a bench. Steve handed him a tiny cup of nectar. To Bucky, it smelled like honey.

"Do not put that in your mouth." Steve watched Bucky became intrigued by the tiny flying creatures.

"That?"

"They're called butterflies." One butterfly landed near Bucky's metal arm, he tried to poke it but flew away.

"Go?"

"You can't touch them, they're really fragile. You have to let them come to you." Bucky whined a little but looked at all the flowers until one landed on his metal hand. Bucky stared at it, then smiled. Steve took a picture of him. Another one laid on his head, Bucky giggled but was completely frozen trying not to startle the creatures.

"Pretty."

"Yes, they are." Steve was trying not to tear up. Bucky looked at peace for once. The winter soldier was never gentle with anything, Steve was afraid that Hydra had beaten all gentleness out of him. But this one moment proved that Hydra's programming was probably starting to waver. Steve couldn't be any happier.

A butterfly landed on Harley's nose. She sneezed causing it and the two on Bucky to fly away.

"Bye." Said Bucky. Steve smiled at him.

"How about we head home?" Bucky nodded. He was tired, but first he needed a toy. They went to the giftshop. A lot of stuffed animals. How could he just take one? He picked up a polar bear, he really liked the polar bears.

"Do you want that one?" Bucky nodded. Then he remembered Tony wanted something. He looked at all the animals, then at the lion. For some reason, the word boss reminded him of Tony because he was bossy. Then he saw a bear. Uncle Tony and Sam kept calling daddy a bear.

"Whose the lion for?"

"Uncle Tony, have."

"Oh, that's sweet of you." Bucky looked around again. He saw an elephant, that one for mommy.

"This mommy."

"Buck, I know you want to get a toy for everyone, but you'll forget that these are gifts and want them for yourself. You can have your bear, Tony can have the lion since he asked. I don't know you grabbed this bear, I guess for Harley. You can get one more." Bucky looked at the options, then he saw the giraffe. That was his second favorite. This one was for papa.

"All done?" Bucky nodded. Steve got the toys from him and gave him to the cashier. Bucky whined a little, Steve really needed to start teaching Bucky that he couldn't get upset when people took his toys for a minute. After a few minutes and over 50 dollars spent, they headed home. 

Once they arrived, Bucky was nearly asleep. It was only 6 pm and Steve still had to get dinner ready. Tonight might have to be a pre-made dinner.

"Bucky, wake up." Bucky growled a little but woke up. Steve unbuckled him and brought him to the main floor.

"Hey guys, how was the zoo?" Asked Nat.

"It was fun. We learned a lot. Bucky has presents for you guys." Said Steve. Bucky looked in the bag then grabbed the three toys.

"Mommy." He gave her the elephant.

"Aw, thank you. I love elephants." Nat kissed his head. 

"Papa." He handed him the giraffe.

"Oh, this is cool. Thanks kid." Said Rumlow.

"Uncle Tony." He gave him the lion.

"A lion? This is my spirit animal, thanks Buckster."

"Bossy." Said Bucky. Nat and Rumlow laughed. Tony looked a little offended.

"Sorry Tony, I told him that male lions were the boss. I didn't think he would associate you with a lion."

"I love it anyway. Thank you." Said Tony. Bucky dug into the bag again and gave the bear to daddy and held his polar bear.

"He gave you a bear to compliment your momma bear side. Cute. Is that your bear?" Asked Rumlow.

"Yah."

"What are you going to name it?" Asked Nat. Bucky thought for a long time, his mind was wavering between hunger and tired. It was kind of making him a little upset.

"How about Snow?" Said Steve.

"Snow." A fitting name. Bucky nodded then yawned. Rumlow poked Bucky's cheek, he growled then his stomach growled.

"Oh someone's becoming hangry with a side of tiredness. You better handle that. We left a box of pizza on your floor." Said Tony.

"Thanks Tony." Everyone said goodnight to them. Steve picked up Bucky and took the elevator to their floor. Bucky was really becoming hangry now, he was fighting sleep because he was hungry. He was fighting Steve because he was hungry, he just couldn't settle himself down. Steve cut up the pizza into mini bites. Bucky ate two cut up pizzas quickly, took his pills then went to relax on the couch.

As Steve ate, he saw that Bucky's animal friend circle was increasing. He now had Lamby, Star, Fin, Captain America bear and now Snow. These were the ones that had names, there was more that he has when he got sick and from Christmas. But he just loved those five a bit more. When Steve finished cleaning the plates, he saw that Bucky had fallen asleep. Steve smiled and brought him in the bedroom. He changed him into his pj's and covered him in his blanket.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, are you awake?" Steve stroked back his hair. His eyes were still closed.

"Fun."

"You had fun today? I'm glad. Go to sleep, Buck. You have therapy tomorrow. I love you." Said Steve kissing his head.

"Love, daddy." And just like that he was out. Steve smiled, he was glad Bucky had a good time even if he was confused and a little scared through it. It was a part of life. They would be able to do more once it was warmer. But for now, Steve needed to get plans ready for Bucky's birthday. Everyone will be there, Bucky will most likely have a tantrum or two, but if he started planning early he could avoid something like that. He just wanted to make sure Bucky had the best birthday ever.

**Author's Note:**

> Request can be sent to my Instagram: winterwolf37. If you do not have Instagram, I can still take them here. 
> 
> I'll try to squeeze in a valentine's day one.


End file.
